Going to Extremes

AUTHOR(S)

Petrecca, Laura

PUB. DATE

October 1999

SOURCE

Advertising Age;10/11/1999, Vol. 70 Issue 42, p36

SOURCE TYPE

Trade Publication

DOC. TYPE

Article

ABSTRACT

This article presents the highlights of the Gravity Games, an eight-day festival organized by NBC Sports and Emap Petersen held in Providence, Rhode Island which kicked off on October 3, 1999. Some 200,000 spectators descended on the capital city of the Ocean State to watch more than 200 athletes participate in street luge, downhill skateboarding, wakeboarding and freestyle motocross competitions. And such brands as Mountain Dew, Doritos, Toyota, Hasbro Interactive, the U.S. Marines, Ultimate Speed Stick and Unionbay ponied up to $3 million apiece for top-tier, multimedia sponsorship packages. The hope of NBC was to replicate the success ESPN has had with its X Games franchise. This year, 15 top-tier sponsors reportedly paid ESPN a total of $22 million for endorsement packages. INSET: Counterculture rebel or brand icon? `Biker' is both.